TRAILBLAZING COMPANIES LIKE MARRIOTT AND SMITH BARNEY SHOW HOW TO TURN WELFARE RECIPIENTS INTO VALUED EMPLOYEES

I want to move up the corporate ladder." That's not a remarkable statement for a career-oriented person--until you consider the speaker. Michael Bradford, 38, battled drugs and alcoholism throughout his adult life and eight months ago was homeless on Washington's streets. His resume includes a six-month jail term for burglary. Born into a welfare family, Bradford fully expected to die in one.

No longer. Today Bradford is a poster boy for the barely begun--and some would say doomed--effort to move most welfare clients off the dole and into decent jobs. As a graduate of a six-week welfare-to-work program sponsored by Marriott...